It is common for property owners to mistake ornamental weeds for beautiful plants, as some provide vibrant, pleasing colors. However, these colorful plants are actually invasive ornamentals that thrive off of the nutrients, sunlight, and water meant for your grass and desired plants. Keeping them around on your property will do harm to the rest of your vegetation, so it is important to be able to identify and eradicate them as soon as possible.

Some invasive ornamental weeds include yellow nutsedge, puncturevine, Canada thistle, and toadflax. Continue reading to learn more about these weeds and why it is so important to remove them from your lawn and landscape beds.

Sneaky Yellow Nutsedge Weeds Resemble Your Grass

Yellow nutsedge growing on a property in Airdrie, AB.

Yellow nutsedge is a prohibited noxious weed in Canada. This plant looks a lot like normal grass, however, it can be distinguished from its light green leaves that are thicker, more rigid, and more erect than grass. Another way to determine yellow nutsedge from your normal grass is by its seed heads. These seed heads are gold/brown spikelets that sprout from the middle of the blades.

Yellow nutsedge is fast-spreading and can easily invade your lawn if not taken care of. It is a very tough weed to control, therefore, it will need multiple applications of herbicides to completely eradicate it.

Puncturevines Contain Spiny Seed Burrs

Puncturevine (or goat head) is another prohibited noxious plant that grows as summer annual. Property owners should be careful around puncturevine as it forms mats in the ground that has seed burrs with sharp spines. These spiny seed burrs can hurt if stepped on, so it's important to watch out for them. You can identify this weed by its 5-petaled, light yellow flowers that eventually grow yellowish fruit.

Puncturevines are often found in disturbed areas and will thrive in any soil type, making them tricky to get rid of. It is possible to remove them by hand, however, you have to be sure to remove its whole root system so that it does not grow back. Stubborn puncturevines may have to be handled by a professional team like ours.

Don't Be Tricked by the Pretty Purple Flowers of Canada Thistle

Purple thistle weeds growing in a yard in Calgary, AB.

Canada thistle is a noxious perennial weed with grooved stems that grow upright with alternate dark green leaves. In its early days, the leaves of a thistle plant are broad with ragged edges and a smooth texture. Canada thistle grows pretty flowers that are usually purple but can also be pink or white. These pretty flowers lead property owners to mistake this plant as native and nonharmful. However, this plant is indeed an invasive weed that will steal nutrients from your grass and plants.

Canada thistle is difficult to control due to its root system involving rhizomes; this means pulling them out without removing the entire taproot is useless, as it will only result in regrowth.

Controlling Canada thistles requires herbicide application and consistent lawn care.

Toadflax can be identified by its lively yellow flowers.

Toadflax is a perennial plant with lance-shaped pale green leaves. These plants grow light yellow flowers that have a darker golden yellow color in the middle. These flowers are pleasing to the eye, however, it is so important to get rid of toadflax as soon as possible because this weed contains a toxic substance that can be harmful to livestock.

Controlling the spread of toadflax can be difficult because it spreads through seeds and tuberous roots. This is another invasive weed that must be controlled with a few rounds of herbicides.

Our team can help you remove invasive ornamentals from your property.

No matter how pretty some invasive ornamentals may look, they will remain invasive. Removing them with our weed control services can help you take back your lawn. We believe that routine lawn maintenance and weed control services will work together to eradicate your weed problem and set your lawn up for long-term success by giving it the strength to fight off weeds in the future.

To schedule weed control services for your property in Calgary, Airdrie, Chestermere, AB, or a nearby area, call us today at (403) 250-8464.